A man has been charged after allegedly threatening staff and wielding nunchucks at the electoral office of the Western Australian local government minister, Hannah Beazley.
The arrest on Thursday came after federal independent MP Helen Haines was hospitalised with severe injuries after an alleged attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta in Victoria earlier in the week.
Electoral staff at Beazley’s Victoria Park office in Perth called police after a man caused a disturbance on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said they received reports the man was making verbal threats while in possession of an “improvised martial arts weapon” described as “nunchucks”.
They arrested the ۵۶-year-old man nearby and took him into custody. On Thursday he was charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, making unlawful threats and cannabis possession. Nobody was injured in the incident.
The man was refused bail to appear at Perth magistrates court on Thursday.
Beazley was not in the office at the time but told reporters on Wednesday evening her staff were “rattled” by the “confronting situation”.
“He was [allegedly] being very threatening. He did want access to me, I believe, but we don’t know his motivations at all,” the minister said.
Beazley said there had been two staff members in the office at the time. The man allegedly attempted to lean through the security screen but her staff were a safe distance away, she said.
“It’s not the first time I’ve had threats made against me.
“My primary concern is the welfare of my staff, obviously. That was very rattling for them. They called the police.”
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Hannah Beazley was a friend “because I’m a good friend of her dad”, the former Labor defence minister Kim Beazley.
“This is far too prevalent,” Albanese told Perth radio on Thursday. “It’s not who we are as Australians. We can have our discussions and debates and settle those issues at the ballot box.”
‘A unique and pernicious form of attack’
The governor general, Sam Mostyn, speaking generally on Thursday, discussed the gendered dynamics of threats and abuse directed at women in high-profile positions.
“Like any woman who has stepped up into any position across any part of our society, there is a unique and pernicious form of attack that comes our way,” Mostyn told ABC TV.
“I still receive that online. In fact, I was just saddened this morning to see some of the comments on my own Instagram page, in capitals with expletives, once again questioning the very nature of what it is that I do.
“Women across the country know that there are certain things that are reserved for women … that go to our gender and they are often vicious and just despicable.”
A community vigil was held for Haines in Wodonga on Wednesday evening after it was revealed the MP had lost both her legs following Monday’s alleged attack.
Haines’s predecessor as the federal member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, said on the sidelines of the event the community was grappling with “mixed emotions”.
McGowan had spent time with Haines’s staff and she told Guardian Australia they were “all crying together because of the emotion that’s been building up”.
“The people here tonight don’t want violence … but that’s not to say when violence happens in their communities they know what to do about it,” McGowan said.
“There’s a lot of violence in our communities, there’s a lot of violence online … there’s nothing new about this.
“What the attack on Helen has brought to our mind is, this is us. We can’t just pretend that everything’s OK in the regions and we’re doing fine.
